Laura Macdonald went into the Covid pandemic with one successful career and is emerging with two.
The Ayrshire-born saxophonist once led a band that included David Bowie’s latter day collaborator, saxophonist Donny McCaslin and the drummer and composer of the award-winning soundtrack to Birdman, Antonio Sanchez.
But she now leads a double life as chef and musician.
In May 2020, with live concerts dropping out of her diary wholesale, Laura decided to follow her other passion.
Cooking and music
“I’d always enjoyed cooking and trying different food on tour abroad,” says Laura, who appears with her trio at the Kings Theatre Lounge in Kirkcaldy on Saturday, February 26.
“Our friends from down the road kept saying how much they liked coming to our house for dinner because it was better than going to a restaurant and they always ate something they’d never tried before.”
So, when the call for entrants to the BBC’s Masterchef went out, Laura thought, why not?
“When you watch the programmes on television, it all looks relatively straightforward,” says Laura, who used her married name, Laura Michael on the show.
“It’s not really. With the country under lockdown there were online auditions, which I got through.
“Then there were auditions in London before the rounds you see on TV, and I was driving back and forth between London and my home in Carluke, sitting alone in the only car on the motorway with nothing else but HGVs. It was surreal.”
Once she reached the televised stage, Laura was given an apartment in London, where she was on her own, too.
Fourth in Masterchef
She missed her husband and two children but still managed to concentrate on the challenges in the Masterchef kitchen, finding that her experience as a performer meant she was unfazed by being on camera.
“It would have been great to win but coming fourth, even though that meant missing out on the final itself, was still amazing,” she says.
“It was a fantastic experience, getting to meet the people involved that we know from watching the programme, and seeing what the other contestants were creating.
“It totally opened my eyes to food and what’s possible with different ingredients.”
Laura’s Masterchef experience has also opened doors.
Since the series aired she has been giving cooking demonstrations all over the UK and testing recipes and getting involved in product development with food companies.
With so much demand on her time, it would be understandable if she had neglected her music.
But she somehow found time to record a series of duets with some of her favourite musicians for an album she plans to release in March.
‘Cooking and music are similar’
“Jazz musicians should cook, in the sense of playing exciting solos, but I actually find cooking and music quite similar,” says Laura whose musical status was confirmed with a Best Instrumentalist gong at the Scottish Jazz Awards in December.
“They’re both creative. When you’re improvising a saxophone solo, you’re drawing on the knowledge you’ve gained with experience but making something new.
“It’s the same with developing recipes.”
The idea for the new album sprang out of a duo recording she made on her phone with the great guitarist Martin Taylor.
Laura has called on musicians who are friends as well as musicians she has particularly enjoyed working with over the years.
‘It was like a lifeline’
“The Swedish drummer Martina Almgren, who I co-led a band with for a while that was a lot of fun, was one of the first people I got in touch with,” she says.
“Then came keyboards player Steve Hamilton, who works with the drumming legend Billy Cobham these days, and guitarist Kevin Mackenzie.
“It was like having a lifeline being able to record musical conversations remotely. Every track has a story behind it and I’m really looking forward to getting the album out and letting people hear it.”
The trio she’ll be bringing to Kirkcaldy features another two longstanding musical friends, pianist Paul Harrison and bassist Mario Caribe.
“This will be the first time I’ve played to a real live audience in the same room since the pandemic began,” says Laura.
“I can’t wait. It’s been great communicating with other musicians by Zoom but it’s not the same as being onstage together and feeling the response you get from people watching and listening in person.”
